Rebel student life in Myanmar: Bombs, snakes and hungry cows


Students gathering for morning assembly at a high school in rebel-held Shan State. — Photos: ©2025 The New York Times Company

THE medical student was showering near his dormitory in the jungles of eastern Myanmar when he heard military jets flying overhead. Wearing only undershorts, he raced to a bomb shelter. But there, he faced another danger: a black snake. Grabbing a stick, he killed it before it could bite him.

“It was terrifying,” said Khuu Nay Reh Win, 21, who was inspired to become a surgeon after working as a rebel army medic. “The fear of dying from a snakebite is as real as the fear of bombs.”

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